The night was late.

Xue Shao and Princess Taiping haven't gotten along so quietly for a long time. Both of them lay on their sides and did not fall asleep, and in the middle lay their precious little daughter, who was not yet a full moon.

There are no words or any body movements, just a meeting of eyes, and the other person's mind is known.

On such a quiet and warm night, Xue Shao hoped that it would never dawn.

The couple looked at their sleeping little daughter quietly for nearly an hour. It wasn't until the youngest daughter woke up crying that Princess Taiping called the wet nurse to take her daughter away and serve.

In the end, only two people remained.

Soon after Princess Taiping gave birth, it was obviously not appropriate for the husband and wife to have intercourse. The two lay side by side, clasping hands, quietly able to feel each other's heartbeat and breathing. As if there is no distinction between each other, two people are one person.

"Xue Lang?"

"Huh?"

The two turned their heads to look at each other at the same time, and Xue Shao was surprised to find a hint of emptiness that quietly flashed in her eyes.

Xue Shao couldn't help laughing.

"What are you laughing at?" Princess Taiping raised her mouth, as if she was a little dissatisfied.

"What do you want to say to me?" Xue Shao asked directly.

Princess Taiping knew that she couldn't hide it from him, so she changed her attitude a little seriously and said, "I do have something to tell you. Although you have been back for several days, there has been no proper opportunity. ”

"Good tonight." Xue Shao smiled, "Say it!" ”

"Hmm......" Princess Taiping replied lightly, but she didn't rush to speak. On the contrary, his brows were slightly locked, as if he was a little hesitant how to speak.

Xue Shao felt more and more strange, this was not like Princess Taiping's usual style.

"Between us, what else can't be said?" Xue Shao asked.

Princess Taiping frowned slightly, as if she had made up her mind, and said, "When you came back from Hebei, did you receive a letter from home that I brought with you?" ”

"Yes, I got it." Xue Shao replied.

"Then why don't you listen to my advice, put aside the matter of Hebei and Cheng Wuting, and return to Beijing immediately?" Princess Taiping is not in a tone of criticism, but more like bewilderment.

Xue Shao said: "The arrow is on the string, and I have to send it." If I give up halfway, the consequences will be unimaginable. ”

"I knew you'd answer that." Princess Taiping said, "From what I know about you, I already know that you will persevere, and I will not change my course because of one of my letters. ”

"Then why did you write that letter?" Xue Shao asked.

The corners of Princess Taiping's mouth lifted slightly, revealing a meaningful smile. Xue Shao could fully understand her expression, as if to say-you know!

"It seems that my mother-in-law doesn't want any unhappiness between me and the sons and nephews of the martial arts." Xue Shao said with a smile.

"If you know, why do you insist on going your own way?" Princess Taiping said, "Actually, my mother's attitude is very clear, as long as the military crisis in Hebei can be resolved smoothly, other things are trivial." Don't be disgusted with my woman's opinion...... Your trip is complete, and your mother wants to pardon Cheng Wu for your life, which is nothing at all. But you turned your face and stiffened with Wu Yougui because of a Cheng Wuting, which is hard to make my mother happy! ”

Xue Shao listened and was silent for a long time.

Although Princess Taiping's tone was very soft, it was not difficult to hear from her words that Wu Zetian was actually quite unhappy. From this, it seems that it can also be inferred that Wu Zetian has already begun to vigorously cultivate and promote her nephews. In a sense, the nephews she sent were her doppelgangers. Going against the sons and nephews of the martial arts family is almost the same as going against Wu Zetian.

"Xue Lang, when you return to Beijing this time, do you smell any strange smell?" Princess Taiping asked suddenly.

"What's the smell?"

Princess Taiping said: "The previous Yangzhou rebellion, Pei Yan's forced palace, and the Hebei crisis once forced my mother to a place of dire straits, and Datang Sheji faced an unprecedented catastrophe. But with Pei Yan's beheading, Li Xiaoyi's counterinsurgency, and your Hebei triumph, all these crises have been resolved. These three major events are enough to change and change the national fortunes of Datang and reshape history. However...... You're all involved in all three of these things, and they're all playing a pivotal role. ”

"Well, and then what?" Xue Shao listened very attentively.

"Then, it's time to settle accounts and reward meritorious deeds after the autumn." Princess Taiping said, "The rebels of the Yangzhou rebellion will definitely die without a place to be buried, and Cheng Wuting has picked up a life thanks to you, so leave it alone." Those henchmen of Pei Yan in the past should be eliminated one by one sooner or later. In this way, the pattern of the court will change greatly. ”

Xue Shao nodded silently. Pei Yan once leaned towards the government and the opposition, and even dared to force Wu Zetian, he was never alone. But after his downfall, Wu Zetian did not rush to liquidate his faction, but temporarily forbears and tolerates it out of the need to stabilize the overall situation. Now that the Yangzhou rebellion and the Hebei crisis have been resolved, it is indeed time to settle accounts after the autumn.

Xue Shao couldn't help but think of Wei Xuantong, Liu Qixian, and Liu Yuanzhi, the current prime ministers. If you calculate it carefully, most of the court can be cleansed. Isn't this just a "big change in the landscape"? It's clearly a reshuffle, the rhythm of breaking and standing!

If someone is removed, someone must fill their vacancy. It is conceivable that the person who comes up on top will inevitably be Wu Zetian's henchman. Such a reshuffle will only have one result in the end - more power will go to Wu Zetian's hands. From then on, there was no one in the court who could compete with it!

"Xue Lang, have you ever thought about what you should do at this critical juncture?" Princess Taiping asked.

"You've been around the corner with me for a long time, and you just want to tell me this, right?" Xue Shao smiled and said, "I know you already have an idea, just say it, I'll listen." ”

Princess Taiping smiled and said, "I have lived in the palace for a long time, and I am accompanied by my mother day and night. My mother and I have discussed this matter many times. In the end we felt ......"

"What do you think?" Xue Shao laughed, "How is it?" ”

"I think it......" Princess Taiping looked a little weak-hearted, blinking her eyes again and again, and her mouth was a little stammering.

"Say it!"

"It's better for you to step down from the military and stay in Chang'an as a scholar or a slaughterer." Princess Taiping said. After speaking, he looked at Xue Shao a little nervously, and observed his expression vigorously.

Unexpectedly, Xue Shao just smiled calmly, neither angry nor shocked, which seemed to disappoint Princess Taiping a little, but it also made her feel a lot more at ease.

"What do you think?" Princess Taiping asked a little eagerly.

"I think it......" Xue Shao's brows twisted slightly, and his tone lengthened, "It's not good!" ”

"Why?" Princess Taiping was a little anxious, and sat up with her arms propped up, "Shangshu, Prime Minister, is such an official position not worthy of you?" You are not yet thirty years old, and since the founding of the Tang Dynasty, there has never been such a young prime minister! ”

"It's not a question of worthiness or unworthiness." Xue Shao said, "For a while, I don't know how to explain it to you. ”

"I don't need your explanation." Princess Taiping said hurriedly, "I told you a lot just now, don't you understand the meaning?" The court is about to be broken and renovated, which is both a big risk and a big opportunity, and it is a time for my mother to be employed. First of all, she thought of you first. She knows that you are good at military affairs, so she is ready to officially appoint you as the secretary of the military department, in charge of the military affairs of the whole country. At the same time, you are allowed to be attached to the political hall Pingzhang military affairs, although it is not the official prime minister, but it also has the right to participate in military affairs. After three or five years, if you have accumulated enough experience and merits, you can rightfully enter the cabinet department and become the Datang Zaifu - why not? ”

"......" Xue Shao was speechless for a while and was silent.

He couldn't help but think, in all fairness, Wu Zetian, the mother-in-law, treats my son-in-law well. Less than thirty will enter the phase, which is rare throughout the ages. What's more, now is an era of breaking the old and establishing the new, and it is even possible to change the dynasty immediately, and it is her Wu family that Wu Zetian should cultivate and promote the most. But the first thing she thought of was to reuse me, an "outsider" with the blood of the Li family's royal family...... It's not easy!

Seeing that Xue Shao was silent, Princess Taiping was a little anxious, "I thought that even if you weren't particularly excited, at least you wouldn't resist and be disgusted." I didn't expect you to be such an attitude! ”

"Enron, don't be angry yet." Xue Shao also sat up and stroked her back, and after a while of persuasion, she was no longer annoyed, and then said gently: "Of course I understand the kindness of you and the Queen Mother." All along, you have been very good to me, really good. ”

"You know, you still don't appreciate it?" Princess Taiping rolled her eyes in a mock manner.

"It's not that I don't appreciate it." Xue Shao said, "It's this love, I can't get it for the time being." ”

"How?" Princess Taiping was a little curious and asked.

"To be a person and do things, you have to pay attention to a good beginning and a good end, right?" Xue Shao said, "I have been leading troops to fight in the past few years, and Xiazhou has just made a little bit of a business. Now that I am suddenly asked to put down the army and Xiazhou to be the prime minister, to be honest, I feel that I have betrayed my brothers in Paoze. Because now, when they need me the most! ”

"Betrayal? Where does this begin? Princess Taiping said puzzledly, "You never owe them anything, do you?" ”

"I don't owe anything." Xue Shao breathed a sigh of relief and said, "However, there is still a promise between us that has never been said in words. ”

"What promise?"

"The Promise of the Troopers."

"I don't understand......," Princess Taiping shook her head confusedly, "You have become the prime minister's book, and you can still remember your robes and brothers." Didn't you say that a person attained the Tao and the chicken dog ascended to heaven? If you were exalted, wouldn't you be able to take better care of them? How can this be a betrayal? ”

"That's not what it means...... Xue Shao sighed lightly, "You won't understand." For a moment, I couldn't explain it. ”

"If you don't say it, I understand......" Princess Taiping's expression darkened a little, and she said softly, "No matter how good the things others give, they are not what you want, and you are never rare." ”

"......" Xue Shao was slightly stunned and speechless.

Although what Princess Taiping said had a bit of a bit of a violent taste...... However, the meaning is clearly expressed!

Whether it's the prime minister or the book...... Xue Shao said in his heart, this is really not what I want!

"You'd rather struggle to get a bowl of overnight rice without meat than look at the delicacies of the mountains and seas that others give away." Princess Taiping was a little angry as she spoke, "Xue Lang, I really can't help but want to scold an ugly word!" ”

"What?" Xue Shao asked with a smile.

"You're just—hypocritical!" Princess Taiping was so hateful that she punched him twice in the chest, and said, "Now I don't know how many people have squeezed their heads to squeeze into the political halls of the three provinces and six ministries, and my mother has opened all the doors of these places to you for you to choose, but you don't care about it - you say, are you too hypocritical?" ”

"I'm not hypocritical, I really aren't." Xue Shao said seriously, "I just think that there are still many things that should have been done by me, but I didn't finish it." I can't pull away, and I can't move my heart! ”

"No one forced you to do those things!" Princess Taiping said urgently, "I have already seen that you are in Chang'an. All you think about day and night is to go back to be your governor and your general, can't you think about something else? ”

"I have, I have thoughts!" Xue Shao said and hugged Princess Taiping, and said with a smile, "I miss you every day, I miss our son, and I miss our baby daughter!" ”

"Flim, I won't tell you!" Princess Taiping turned around angrily and said angrily, "Let my mother tell you in person." When the time comes, I see how you will blame the hippie smiley? - Humph! ”

Xue Shao's heart tightened slightly, it seemed that Princess Taiping had just come to play an outpost to test her tone. Sooner or later, Wu Zetian will personally talk to me for a showdown.

Could it be that she is really determined not to let me lead the troops again this time?

- How can this work!!